I've had this problem for about half a year now where air is getting into the system.

I changed the power steering pump and a torn lower hose about a year ago. The whining sound never really went away. Then a few months later I checked the power steering pump again and found a broken tab and had it replaced free from Autozone. It kept leaking then found out the rack and pinion was bad.

Just changed it out about a month ago I still get bubbles oozing out of the reservoir cap. I cleaned the whole engine and also put a cardboard underneath but its not leaking anywhere I can see. I haven't been able to drive the car in about a couple of months now.

Can it be a clogged reservoir or pressure line? How can I tell? Can a shop diagnose this?

Please I'm all out of ideas and patience with this.

 

From my experience doing anything with the power steering system, if you have fixed all leaks, the system is a closed system (no other method for air to get in). You need to ensure the system is not over filled (if so, remove excess fluid).

Also, when I've changed racks and pumps, it can take a good day to a week to bleed all the air successfully out of the system (the shop book tells you to keep turning the wheel hard left, then hard right and repeat a few times, but sometimes you just need to let it sit, and repeat the process later). Air causes the power steering fluid to get foamy, letting it sit causes that foam to settle (leaving air in the top of the reservoir and fluid in the bottom, as it should naturally be).

I think the biggest key is to see if you have too much fluid in the system. A dollar store turkey baster is a good tool to remove excess fluid.

 

Thanks. I'll give it some time. I've done the well turning but not a lot after replacing the rack. Can I drive the car like this to remove air or will it ruin something?

My only other option is replacing the pump again with reservoir. I had a leak where the reservoir and pump meet. O ring wasn't sitting right.

 

As long as you don't have too much fluid in the system, you should be fine. Have a bottle with you, check after the car cools down from a drive and top off if needed.

If you have the proper fluid level and it keeps pushing fluid out, then you are in territory I have not been in and may want to have a shop take a closer look.

 

I experienced this very problem for years and I'm on my fourth steering pump. Like you, I used autozone for my replacement pump and have had no problem exchanging the old pumps for new pumps, at no charge. They would last for a short while each time and then they would start doing what yours is doing. Foaming fluid, losing fluid with little or no evidence of where it went.

Then a few months ago when I took the car out of a two year retirement I had to replace the pump again. Only this pump came with something the others had not. It was a small O-ring. I wondered where it was supposed to go and concluded that the supply line connection was the only logical place. But all these years I had thought that was a compression fitting. So I installed the O-ring onto the supply line before installing it and I haven't had a problem with it since. I have put 1,500 miles on it and all is well. I suspect the air was getting past the connection without the O-ring and fluid was leaking down the hose and blowing off at speed. Both at such a slow rate that it wasn't easily detectable.

I suggest swapping your pump for a new one and make sure there is an O-ring in the box for the supply line. Good luck and let us know what you find.